tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7472362634520872892019-09-15T01:49:54.436-04:00Ghostrunner on FirstBlue Jays Detritus from OPS to OMG!Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.comBlogger874125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-1031037051330252282019-07-29T11:30:00.003-04:002019-07-29T11:30:26.075-04:00Don't Worry, We Will Both Find Out (Just Not Together)Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'22Gy55EISJF4eLD9cYouTw',sig:'mb9Jz45Y2IMsnUSgESm3p_8iWnkK7p-GOF4bJaWtqfU=',w:'594px',h:'424px',items:'699918700',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});
The Blue Jays traded Marcus Stroman. They received two players in return after sending some money to the New York Mets, <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/loutjmODjOQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com2http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2019/07/dont-worry-we-will-both-find-out-just.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-62172063213425791582018-08-21T23:37:00.003-04:002018-08-22T12:55:07.300-04:00Let's bring this city to life, to light, tonight Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'gtjB9uNBSixmcw1ZsYt-3g',sig:'4cEBxG8FZEbfMFjrQUSxLwBhmquM-Q7IouKe39SZHeM=',w:'594px',h:'408px',items:'961648146',caption: false ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});
John Axford has seen a lot over his 10-year Major League career. Drafted twice without signing, traded, designated for <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/VMO2NZxx-sc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com1http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2018/08/lets-bring-this-city-to-life-to-light.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-50797418982499431532018-05-01T11:27:00.004-04:002018-05-02T15:13:12.565-04:00I'm a Stone, Baby You're a Feather
The purple prose comes free and easy when Vladimir Guerrero Jr is the subject. It comes as easily to prospect watchers and scouts as it does to those interested in the human condition.
Comparisons to Hall of Famers, triple crown winners and perennial MVP candidates slip right off the ends of fingers and end up on the pages of venerable publications with better things to do than inject helium <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/CvUrnhlZ680" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com1http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2018/05/im-stone-baby-youre-feather.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-75225501569582614562017-11-08T13:23:00.002-05:002017-11-08T13:25:55.089-05:00Shadowboxing with giants
There was about a 100 minute span on Tuesday, a window during which the baseball world waited. A little short of two hours passed as the initial reports of a downed plane gave way to confirmed aircraft ID numbers before, finally, the sheriff of a coastal Florida county read the victim's name aloud.
For almost two hours, I distracted myself with the last refuge of scoundrels: municipal politics.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/v--4tfwWXh4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com0http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2017/11/shadowboxing-with-giants.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-58052322636142905272017-09-13T11:50:00.003-04:002018-02-21T09:11:08.807-05:00Boiled FrogsEmbed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'2Ju5IpfNR0duOKrreatJIQ',sig:'Cer73bGYB1qTfLzo29O98BIC_9B8dFTVIIZFrA9ReBU=',w:'594px',h:'430px',items:'613003884',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});
There was always a chance it would end this way. There is no small amount of risk surrounding a 36-year old dead red pull<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/G0vcvptEA5A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com7http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2017/09/boiled-frogs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-3641978840578827702016-10-20T16:46:00.000-04:002016-10-20T16:46:05.481-04:00Well-dressed butEmbed from Getty Images
The binary notions of failure and success don’t feel appropriate for the 2016 Blue Jays. Not with all the baggage and narrative threads that weave their way through this season and into the future.
This season was a success because a distinctive, excellent team was three wins away from the World Series. The season was a failure because the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays weren’t <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/W2vnVdWZASA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com2http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2016/10/well-dressed-but.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-68494993090017422162016-08-04T22:51:00.000-04:002016-08-05T10:02:29.103-04:00Reasons not rulesEmbed from Getty Images
Aaron Sanchez will continue taking turns in the Blue Jays rotation. This is an exciting and not insignificant piece of news for Blue Jays fans. It’s exciting for any number of reasons, not the least of which relates to the 2016 club, its playoff chances, and Sanchez’s ability to contribute to those chances.
But if you’re a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, take the team’s <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/OsNEDlMKFIA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com0http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2016/08/reasons-not-rules.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-32510855697109279222016-02-19T14:52:00.003-05:002016-02-19T14:58:03.240-05:00I find satisfaction in what they lackEmbed from Getty Images
“Wait ‘til next year!” is the refrain made famous by fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers, unable (until 1955) to take home the World Series crown. The Blue Jays didn’t suffer through four World Series losses in seven years like Dem Bums did, but the 2015 season saw a team built (and then rebuilt on the fly) to win finally broke through and permitted October baseball back across <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/0XlKCD6xdt8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com4http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2016/02/i-find-satisfaction-in-what-they-lack.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-75363990429652683602016-01-18T16:21:00.001-05:002016-01-18T16:24:38.420-05:00Tossed around like sea glassEmbed from Getty Images
There are plenty of “Josh Donaldson vs. The Blue Jays” takes floating around today, because it’s January and there isn’t much else to talk about. The sides are resolute in their tribalism as that is life in these streets.
The Jays look bad and the fans tilting at windmills look bad. Mark Shapiro looks predictably bad and Ken Rosenthal helps some in the Jays front office <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/nTXmcWMGW4A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com11http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2016/01/tossed-around-like-sea-glass.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-65527692774740283072015-10-26T13:57:00.002-04:002015-10-26T14:06:29.419-04:00Every beast has its poisonView image | gettyimages.com
There was no good way for the 2015 Blue Jays season to end. There was only one acceptable outcome, given the improbable run up and come back and full weight of expectation. 29 teams fail to win the World Series every year, which doesn’t meant that they’re all failures.
In some ways it is reassuring that the Blue Jays went down as they did, flipping the script with <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/o-A7F90kIZg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com12http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/10/every-beast-has-its-poison.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-66917496516750412362015-09-30T15:43:00.000-04:002015-09-30T15:43:52.873-04:00The trees die so they can grow againView image | gettyimages.com
One of my least favorite sports tropes is the “long-suffering fan.” Leaving aside the credulity-bending notion that the hours spent watching sports on TV constituted “the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship,” nobody that watched any of the 300-odd starts Roy Halladay made in these colours or the 330 home runs Carlos Delgado clouted in this town can truly <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/zAQSVTQhA10" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com3http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/09/the-trees-die-so-they-can-grow-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-71443529408212797482015-09-11T16:35:00.000-04:002015-11-04T14:50:56.440-05:00In miles or kilometres View image | gettyimages.com
For the better part of the last five years, one of the great concerns among some corners of Blue Jays fandom was squandering Jose Bautista’s peak. Improbable as it seemed when the team excised Alex Rios from the roster and gave Bautista his big break, surrounding him with a good supporting cast was job one for management as of about May 1st, 2011.
It wasn’t for a lack<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/_I-gCGu3yLc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com4http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/09/in-miles-or-kilometres.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-18243768048723022062015-06-10T12:10:00.000-04:002015-11-04T14:54:19.239-05:00HooksView image | gettyimages.com
There is nothing like a tidy seven game winning streak to brush off two months without even a “win one, lose one” baseline of performance. All of May’s despairing moans are gone, replaced with “told ya so’s” directed towards a venerable institution in the radio booth and longing looks up the standings.
And yet, you’d have to twist yourself into a knots to convince <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/e8m240pql0k" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com10http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/06/hooks.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-20430546561843186092015-05-28T17:18:00.000-04:002015-11-04T15:01:49.903-05:00Rough Seas In A Rickety BoatView image | gettyimages.com
Lonely. This was the word R.A. Dickey used last year when asked about the process of re-making himself as a knuckleballer. Lots of learning the hard way - trial and error with endless reps, pitches pitches thrown against a brick wall in pursuit of something elusive. His career as a conventional pitcher was all but over, so he forged a new path.
When asked about the <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/-1ZLm7G_u-Y" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com6http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/05/rough-seas-in-rickety-boat.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-42946385452433368562015-02-27T11:55:00.002-05:002015-02-27T11:59:58.774-05:00Hello, Mr. Thompson
There exists a particularly tortured analogy between the current Blue Jays outfield situation and a famous Biblical tale (read obtusely and gleaned from Wikipedia.) A failure to heed the warnings of angels resulted in a woman turning into a pillar of salt, a suboptimal outcome for a once-living creature.
Sending an oft-injured player to do drills at a trash facility isn’t exactly disobeying <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/E32RNwvbv50" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com4http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/02/hello-mr-thompson.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-62511521025608941542015-02-05T10:31:00.001-05:002015-02-05T10:39:02.912-05:00Error Bars
With football season officially over, which makes the space from now until Spring Training starts a blank void of regular season NBA walk-throughs and NHL non-events. For baseball fans, the Hot Stove is stowed away for the summer so we're left with...Projection Season.
PECOTA dropped last week and your Toronto Blue Jays ZiPS projections should show up on Fangraphs this week. Steamer's been here<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/PBmpqg2QJqk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com2http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/02/error-bars.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-76700584130212950412015-01-18T16:06:00.001-05:002015-01-19T09:41:34.874-05:00Calming the Savage Beest
There is no doubting his popularity, that’s for sure. Paul Beeston, beaming and chomping a cigar, is a defining image for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball club. And maybe that’s part of the problem.
Beeston rose through the ranks and his status as Galactic Blue Jays ambassador to the world is well-earned, as is the respect and appreciation for his role in making the Blue Jays the team to play <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/cGlL50ZpvIc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com1http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2015/01/calming-savage-beest.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-72207712736252139582014-11-18T15:10:00.000-05:002014-11-18T15:10:01.213-05:00Hustle Martin
The most successful film produced by Disney's Pixar is Cars. It isn't the best movie the animated house produced, instead it's probably the worst of their 14 features. But it's the most successful in that it's the most profitable. Cars moves merchandise, and sequels and spinoffs put more money in more pockets than the quasi-progressive Wall-E or The Incredibles aka the Best Pixar Film.
It <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/8Qgt7t5Q3bY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com17http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2014/11/hustle-martin.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-79919072443329716442014-09-23T11:33:00.001-04:002014-09-23T14:57:34.335-04:00The Other Teams Are Better#455178132 / gettyimages.com
No point in burying the lede. The Blue Jays aren't in the playoffs (though they're still mathematically alive) because they other teams are better. Or they're not good enough. One of those two things.
It isn't for a lack of trying and it isn't by a lot, but wins 84-90 are a lot tougher to come by than wins 74 to 83. There was one great month and few months that were <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/nJc22tHuuwU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com6http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2014/09/the-other-teams-are-better.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-77702836869473124172014-09-10T11:07:00.000-04:002014-09-11T00:57:42.585-04:00Gobbobons À Gogo
It is September 10th and the Toronto Blue Jays season is not technically dead. The contact high from "not technically dead" is enough to make a very green fanbase going full "post this salvia trip on Youtube!" up and down Blue Jays Way. "Not technically dead" is all we can ever really hope for in this life.
It is curious that the current state of "not technically dead" runs concurrent to the <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/sG2Ldg91u_0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com11http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2014/09/gobbobons-gogo.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-66270458746617716412014-08-15T12:31:00.001-04:002014-08-15T12:31:46.851-04:00Under Cover of Night
image courtesy of There Will Be Bourbon
There is little doubt in my mind that the Jays sweep in Seattle might have saved the season. Our perspective of the season, that is. If they laid an egg after a three-day gestation period in the Eastern Time Zone, the knives are out to a much greater degree than today.
Let there be no doubt, going down in such a timid manner at the hands of the <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/pwmHKQFJKdY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com2http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2014/08/under-cover-of-night.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-41705493694197796562014-08-08T15:17:00.002-04:002014-08-09T22:46:32.442-04:00Never forget your first
The next time Travis Snider steps onto the field for big league action, it will mark the 500th game of his career. Of those 500 games, more came wearing the uniform of the Pittsburgh Pirates than the Toronto Blue Jays.
Travis Snider was the first prospect I followed closely. His shooting star was the first weighed down by the hopes and expectations of the blog generation, as the rise of <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/Di3RAXL2yho" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com7http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2014/08/never-forget-your-first.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-36022519245959743132014-08-07T14:34:00.002-04:002014-08-07T14:37:48.922-04:00The Player Haters Guide To The Second AL Wild Card Spot
It's August and the Toronto Blue Jays are sitting in a playoff spot.
Pinch yourselves, folks.
We're less than a month away from Meaningful September Baseball (tm), and with 47 games left on the calendar the Jays and their fans find themselves in the unfamiliar spot of fending off teams with designs on sneaking into the one-game crapshoot.
There's an important step that needs to be taken from<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/6PFaghcSlMo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Archihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02151272110728462869noreply@blogger.com13http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2014/08/the-player-haters-guide-to-second-al.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-48557572093406998012014-07-31T12:12:00.000-04:002014-07-31T12:18:35.635-04:00Timing is everything
It is not yet August so it is not yet a pennant race, but the Toronto Blue Jays are in a situation they haven't been for a long time - they matter. Their games matter, dripping with primordial playoff implications as they do. Given the AL East warzone, these future implications are more than just tiny glimmers of hope reflecting off the brass ring that is the second Wild Card game.
For <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/YpVjfa2Af3g" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com43http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2014/07/timing-is-everything.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-747236263452087289.post-80906165969468501602011-09-22T23:21:00.000-04:002013-10-27T09:30:48.709-04:00ThisThis is a GO Train, Ontario's regional commuter train. I spend in excess of three hours per day traveling by GO Train.
This kid lives at my house. This is a picture of her eating a hot dog in front of the Rogers Centre. She is now old enough to attend baseball games and tell elaborate lies and take ballet classes and ask interesting questions during walks in the woods.
She has a younger <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GhostrunnerOnFirst/~4/H7WHj80Emms" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Drewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07271534213351978408noreply@blogger.com58http://www.ghostrunneronfirst.com/2011/09/this.html